Musings on the life redeemed & purpose redefined

Fairy tale Friday May 27, 2011

Once upon a time, I started a little blog and hoped to do at least a weekly bookish post and book freebie…

And then, I came back to reality.

I still have a lot to figure out about my life in the blogosphere. And I definitely haven’t smoothed out any sort of regular routine for posting or doing giveaways.

So, I’ll just do what I can, ok?

It makes me so happy to share our favorite books, and to get familiar with some of yours.

Currently, we are having a bit of a fairy tale situation. More of a “quest” really, if you want to use some fitting literary terminology.

I am a mom in search of the perfect fairy tale compilation.

I hope to find just the right book to satisfy both the boundless imagination of my three-year old and the protective heart of this contemporary mom.

We started with a library book or two. Some of the more traditional tellings of Perrault or Grimm were full of way too much gore and cruelty to be appropriate for my young reader. Even the illustrations in this checkout (above right) were somewhat startling.

Then, there was the Costco purchase at left. The leather-look binding complete with gold pages and satin ribbon proved to be thrilling for our budding bookworm. But the characters (particularly the princesses), were a bit flat and fragile for my taste, and the illustrations were thinly disguised Disney knock-offs.

Then there was a second Costco purchase (you would think I’d learn, right?). Actually, “Grandma’s Magical Storybook” is probably the best collection thus far. The illustrations are sweet and magical, and the stories include a mix of newer originals and some Hans Christian Anderson favorites.

But we still haven’t found “the one” to cherish, share, and recommend.

In fact, our favorite fairytale library-find to date has been the Barefoot-published The Brave Little Princess. I’m not sure if the plot is based on a traditional tale, but the heroine is a girl who goes on adventures, helps others, and learns to appreciate her home.

Too funny Becca! I didn’t really think about it…guess the guys probably aren’t as into fairytales 🙂
I am happy to report that we actually do own at least one truck book that we really like (The Little Blue Truck), although I think it is a bit young for your fellas.
We even have a dinosaur book or too…

Thanks for the recommendation Zoe. I checked it out on Amazon- looks really good! I am officially adding it to our list.
I also checked out your blog. You are inspiring:) I look forward to reading more and commenting.
Thanks for stopping by!

For the longest time, I tried to steer clear of traditional fairy tales for the reasons you listed…but my 4-year-old is now fascinated by them. So we’re searching for good ones together. Have you read “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters,” by chance? I really like that one: http://amzn.to/mcnPEC.

We’ll have to look into that one! I promise to share any good fairytale finds with you:) I know you will do the same! Pretty sure we have similar tastes and concerns.
P.S. Didn’t even know there was an Amazon wish list (for you or us)! Look out now…